Time was the enemy and the Avengers had an appointment to keep. The council's agents put up an impressive fight to stop Iron Man from leaving, but they were no match for the determination the Avenger had burning in his soul. After meeting up with Iron Man the team started their journey to the secret council facility that was holding Barton. All eyes were glued to the clock that was working against them.
"Can't this thing go any faster?" asked Captain America as he paced the back of the jet.
"Maybe if you got out and pushed," suggested Tony.
"If you don't stop pacing Steve, things are going to get really ugly back here," added Banner who felt the pressure's oppressive grip pulling at him.
Tony had hacked into the computer systems and located the room where they were going to kill Clint and mapped out the quickest route there. Thor and Captain America would hold their position in the jet within the hanger, while Black Widow accompanied Bruce and Iron Man to rescue Clint. Romanoff was going to be the muscle to take down any agents that threatened to stop them, and Stark was going to be their guide and technical support. Banner had spent his time brushing up on the different execution techniques used by the council in these situations, in case they had to take medical action.
When the verdict had come in, it had taken Natasha all of twenty minutes to get her and Clint's gear together. The rest of the team was gearing up for the unfortunate implementation of plan A under the assumption that they were still waiting until the last minute to inform the Black Widow of their foolhardy plan. Without any words Romanoff helped them prepare; she had even brought a rather impressive amount of medical supplies from SHIELD when she returned to the meeting room. She had made her decision to take up the fight with the Avengers with Fury's unspoken support; the man had conveniently looked the other way as she liberated the medical supplies.
The jet landed and the Avengers were met with an impressive force. The council was throwing everything they had at them. Amongst the sea of bullets, Thor had managed to clear a path for Banner, Stark and Romanoff to begin their journey inside the compound. Rogers and Thor took on the swarm of agents that were trying to overrun their escape vehicle - neither one said it, but they both knew the other half of the team had some serious ground to make up; it had taken far too long to get them into the facility.
Despite the fact that the men and women wearing SHIELD uniforms were trying to hinder their efforts Rogers and Thor tried their best to implement a no kill policy while incapacitating the force in front of them. At the end of the day these people were just following orders; yesterday they had all been on the same side, and if there was any justice in the world then tomorrow they would be on the same side once again. Pulling punches and hammer swings was surprisingly exhausting, but the pair would continue as long as the option was available. The other half of the team had agreed to the same terms, though they suspected Romanoff would define necessity a little different than the rest of them; depending on the state of Barton the whole rule might be thrown out in the end.
Black Widow and Iron Man took out all of their frustration on every poor soul that thought they should stand in the Avengers' way; not killing didn't mean bones couldn't be broken. Banner followed their wake of destruction; for the first time since Manhattan he desperately wanted to release the other guy. It would serve them all right; they wanted to see a monster, he was willing to show them that Barton wasn't anywhere near a monster. But, as much as he wanted to, Bruce knew he couldn't. They needed his recently acquired medical expertise, and if he was unleashing the beast then there would be no one to provide the medical assistance he prayed they wouldn't need. That thought alone managed to keep the righteous rage just below the surface.
It seemed like there was a never ending supply of agents; for everyone that was knocked out three more would show up to slow them down. It felt like they were going up hill; the ground they were gaining was coming too slowly. They still had seven more winding corridors to get down and another group of agents had just set up a barricade at the end of the hall.
Viewing the base schematic on his visor, Stark raised his hand and fired his repulsar at the wall blasting a large hole. "I have a short cut," he announced as he moved through the recently made door and around the road block the agents had set up at the end of the hall. It wasn't a lot but hopefully it would help them make up some time.
The doctor removed the needle from the IV line and glanced at the screen monitoring the prisoner's vitals; all were diminishing and with the contents of the last syringe it would all be over relatively quickly. He reached over for the final injection, but flinched just shy of the object when the door burst open.
Agent Mason drew his weapon and aimed it at the intruders; it was a rather hopeless situation. He knew his bullets would do nothing against the metal man standing before him, and many training sessions had taught him the hard way he was no match for the Black Widow. It was still his duty to try; it was his mission in life to uphold the right.
One very satisfying backhand from Iron Man had sent Mason through one of the observation windows and into unconsciousness. The doctor raised his hands in surrender, as Natasha dispatched the guards that thought they could take control of the situation. Tony covered the doctor as Bruce moved in to see the damage done.
Alarms were silently flashing across the screen, confirming the dread that had gripped Banner when he entered the room and saw Clint lying strapped to a gurney with an IV line attached. The first injection would have been a sedative, the second a strong muscle relaxant that at that moment was ceasing the movement of Barton's diaphragm. The third would have stopped Clint's heart, but Bruce could see the contents had yet to be administered; their immediate concern was that Clint was not breathing well on his own.
They needed to grab the archer and flee before reinforcements arrived and trapped them all there. Clint was starving for oxygen, and every minute they wasted the chance of brain damage and death increased. Bruce turned and looked at Tony in panic; Iron Man could get back to the jet the fastest.
"Tony, I need you to grab Clint and get him back to the jet; you're going to have to intubate him right away. Natasha brought everything you need and Jarvis can walk you through it."
"Me?" gasped Tony realizing what he was being charged with.
"You can do it. It's just like working on a car; don't look at it as any more complicated than that. We'll be right behind you but you can get him there that much faster," assured Bruce. He wasn't entirely sure Stark could pull this off, but at the moment he was Clint's best chance.
Tony took a deep breath and scooped up the lifeless body of his friend; Barton's shallow and raspy intermittent breaths only increased Tony's growing panic. Natasha took out her fear and hate on the guards as she watched her partner flown out of the room by Stark.
"Banner let's go," called Romanoff as she moved to the door. Bruce grabbed a few things he thought they could use and joined Natasha in the dash back to the jet.
Iron Man flew past Thor and Captain America who were still holding their position in the hanger and inflicting as much damage to the building as possible. He stopped before the jet and carried Clint on board. Carefully laying his fallen comrade down in the back, he knew the situation was bad; especially when they had entered the medical room and found Barton strapped down and unconscious.
He didn't think that Clint had taken a breath for the last forty seconds; there was definitely no rise or fall to his chest as he lay completely still on the floor. Trust the ever efficient council to be right on schedule for an execution. Tony kept reminding himself that they hadn't finished injecting the archer with all of the drugs, which meant that there was a chance to revive Clint; he just wished he wasn't the one that had to start the life saving procedures.
Stark quickly took off the hand pieces for his suit; this kind of procedure didn't need to be complicated with the bulk of metal. With a shaking hand he grabbed the required items and followed Jarvis's instructions; he just prayed that Bruce would hurry up and take over.
Black Widow and Banner came running down the corridor with several agents in hot pursuit. Steve threw his shield at the agent that was taking aim at the pair. The man fell to the ground with a grunt, and Thor body slammed him to prevent him from getting back up until Black Widow and Banner had passed. They didn't stop running until they were aboard the jet. Natasha jumped into the cockpit and started the pre-flight sequence. Tony immediately joined her leaving Barton in much more capable hands.
"We're ready to go guys!" yelled Tony to the remaining two Avengers. Steve and the Asgardian took out the remaining guards and quickly boarded the jet; as soon as the hatch was closed they took off. Natasha turned on the weapons system and destroyed anything capable of flight in the hanger; the last thing they wanted was to be followed.
Rogers collapsed on to one of the seats in the back and tried to catch his breath from the battle. He watched in horror at the flurry of movement from Bruce. The doctor was hooking Clint up to the portable ventilator that Romanoff had managed to liberate from the helicarrier; Banner proceeded to pull needles and vials out of one of the med kits and inject the unconscious man. Desperately hoping they were not too late, Steve could do nothing but watch as he gripped his shield with white knuckles. They had fought too hard to have their teammate die on them. Thor paced the narrow path beside Clint and Bruce, waiting for some sign that they had succeeded in their quest.
"How's it going Bruce?" asked Tony.
"Not now Tony," growled the doctor as he continued his efforts to save the ailing man.
Needing the distraction from the scene in the back he turned to his co-pilot, "Where are we going anyway?"
"I know a place we can lay low while Barton recovers." Natasha kept her eyes on the changing skyline. She couldn't bring herself to look behind her; the scene back at the compound had been too much for her already; she couldn't watch the fight going on in the back of the jet. Clint had to be alright, he wasn't allowed another option.